Members of the Ghobeiri civil defense intervene during a strike near the Iranian embassy in Beirut, on March 6, 2026. (Credit: Photo provided by Ghassan Zeheim)
"Suddenly, we found ourselves facing an extremely fierce war. Sometimes, we would go days without sleeping." With these words, Ghassan Zeheim, chief of the Ghobeiri station in the southern suburbs of Beirut, sums up the experience of civil defense volunteers during the Israeli wars on Lebanon of 2024 and 2026.Rescuers from the Ghobeiri fire station, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on July 20, 2026. (Credit: Zeina Antonios/L'Orient-Le Jour) It is only recently that Ghassan and his team returned to their station, rebuilt and equipped with new ambulances after it was damaged by strikes on the neighborhood. At the entrance are portraits of five volunteers who lost their lives in 2024 in the line of duty. The bombs that rained down nonstop on the southern suburbs forced the Ghobeiri volunteers to evacuate their premises as...
"Suddenly, we found ourselves facing an extremely fierce war. Sometimes, we would go days without sleeping." With these words, Ghassan Zeheim, chief of the Ghobeiri station in the southern suburbs of Beirut, sums up the experience of civil defense volunteers during the Israeli wars on Lebanon of 2024 and 2026.Rescuers from the Ghobeiri fire station, in the southern suburbs of Beirut, on July 20, 2026. (Credit: Zeina Antonios/L'Orient-Le Jour) It is only recently that Ghassan and his team returned to their station, rebuilt and equipped with new ambulances after it was damaged by strikes on the neighborhood. At the entrance are portraits of five volunteers who lost their lives in 2024 in the line of duty. The bombs that rained down nonstop on the southern suburbs forced the Ghobeiri volunteers to evacuate their premises as...
